Godfrey Went Overboard With This One

I normally like Stephen Godfrey's columns but he has gone overboard with this one. He tells it how it is in all of his articles. As an Ole Miss graduate, he should not have wrote about the Rebels like this in his newspaper.

It was late December in Oxford, and I was in the full swing of celebrating my graduation and retirement from bartending at my now former place of employment, when a guest at our staff's private Christmas party leaned over and asked if I was the sportswriter.I leaned over and said "yes.""Then you might want to check out those guys in the back," the person said."They're the new football coaches, but I don't know how they even got in here."Indeed, the party was closed to the public, but there were some unnamed but brand new football staffers drinking the evening away with the rest of us folks. And I thought to myself, in the two-plus years I'd beat-written Ole Miss football, I never once saw David Cutcliffe or his staff out at all, more or less drinking.Fast forward a few months, and for the second time since the new year, newly crowned (and now newly scorned) head coach Ed Orgeron is having to likely fill another gap in his coaching staff, this time in the wake of defensive line coach Joe Cullen's arrest for public intoxication less than two weeks ago on a Thursday night.This arrest of course follows the dismissal of linebackers coach Charlie Camp in late January for a DUI arrest late one Thursday night. Memo to Coach O: Arrange some sort of coaches' meeting late on Thursdays. Review film. Go over practice notes. Play Jenga. Do something.While there are several different stances to be taken on this pattern of transgressions, it's best to approach the situation with light hands. Yes, it is outrageous that community leaders such as Rebel football coaches are apparently drinking their time away, all while student drinking is a major "concern" around campus.To that, I give a 20-something "Whatever." If student drinking really was a concern - and trust me, it should be - the students' parents and noted alumni wouldn't be nearly as hammered in the Grove on gamedays. The hypocrisy of adult "concerns" about student drinking at Ole Miss is another tangent completely, so I'll gracefully digress.So, as to not approach this matter from the tea-totaller angle, can't we just agree that with the demands and stress and hours of being a football coach in the high-profile Southeastern Conference, you would think an unproven lot such as O's would be hunkered down desperately trying to find a secret to a 7-4 season? Right?Apparently, not so much. In a world where coaches literally work themselves to death, Ole Miss found a surly lot that's willing to work the bars just as hard as the weight room. But hey, Steven Spurrier never missed a tee-time while guiding Florida to a national title, so maybe there's a method to Camp, Cullen and presumably the rest of the staff's social gracings. While that's a stretch, I'll grant them a pass.But surely the fans are restless.Yeah, right.Now, with my rather intimate knowledge of Rebel fans, I surely didn't expect most of them to raise any ethical fuss over the Camp/Cullen arrests, but just a note of concern would be nice. Alas, on almost every message board or gathering of Ole Miss fans I've been privy to, the alcohol embarrassment is far down on the list of concerns for fans. That's sad. Really sad.Most fans are more up in arms about the possibility of Micheal Spurlock returning as starting quarterback or the depth of the offensive line than the minds in charge of these oh-so precious young men staying drunker than Cooter Brown. And yes, I get to make those kind of jokes and lump in the whole staff: Once is an incident, but twice is indicative of a trend.But I can't persecute fans (believe me, I've tried). However, what I won't grant in this situation is talking about at all, which is just simply acting your age. That's all. Simply act like you're a grown man who's played college football, lived out your glory-party days, and decided to coach the game as a model to younger men. If you want to be a drunk, be a drunk. I know plenty of All-American drunks.But I'm at loss for the ones who double as signal-callers. I also know how hard it is - and isn't for the right people - to get both a P.I. and D.U.I in Oxford. I spent more than my fair share of time bartending and hell-raising, and from 1999 on I was never arrested for either. So what these coaches did must have been too much for a blind eye.Ed Orgeron promised a new face for Rebel football's image. It officially has one: Ill-mannered, irresponsible, slant-eyed and booze-breathed. Now he's got until August to find another "new" face, and - oh yeah - create a winning football team.Lord. Get the man a drink.